aj12754's Reviews
Cookbook Reviews
39 books reviewed. Showing 1 to 39Sort by: Rating | Title 
The 1997 Joy of Cooking
By Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker, Irma S. Rombauer
Scribner - 1997
This is the "go to" resource in my kitchen. Utility trumps beauty but sometimes utility is exactly what I need. Superb reference section and reliably delicious recipes. The range of cuisines, ingredients, and techniques included is incredibly broad.
And I know I harp on this in every book review, but I love a binding that you don't have to fight with to keep the book open to the recipe.
The Amateur Gourmet
By Adam D. Roberts
Bantam - 2008
Adam Roberts is a blogger living in NYC and loving the food opportunities he's afforded by living there. He is really in love with food and cooking and it shows. This book recounts his experiences both in learning not just how to cook but how to shop for food and how to eat it. A quick enjoyable read that includes some of his favorite recipes from Barefoot Contessa (he LOVES her), Chez Panisse, and Mario Batali. In recent months Adam has also had some excellent recipes at his website, including the winning recipes in a soup contest he held for his readers. Just reading the posting about the top three made me salivate. One of his recent posting reintroduced me (after many years) to the pleasures of creamed mushrooms on toast. And his account of his dinner at El Bulli is wonderful for those of us who will never make it to Spain for dinner.
The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove
By Cathy Erway
Gotham - 2010
An interesting look at foodie trends in and around Manhattan and Brooklyn, primarily those of interest to twenty-somethings. Recipes are included although I found that only one or two of them -- in writing -- gave me a desire to cook or serve them.
The best thing about Erway is her utter fearlessness in the kitchen -- she will wrestle with any ingredient and attempt any and all techniques. The worst thing about the book is her syntax. A good editor could have helped with that -- making it easier to let the author's spirit of culinary adventure shine through.
The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution
By Alice Waters
Clarkson Potter - 2007
This is one of those cookbooks that is as much a pleasure to read as to cook from. The recipes are simple but rely on the cook to seek out the best possible local ingredients. The effort of doing so really pays off on the plate. Until I came across Alice's discussion on making a broth (and the incredibly simple chicken broth recipe that follows) I relied exclusively on Swanson's or Pacific brand. Alice convinced me that it was easier to make it myself and there is no doubt that it's cost effective. This cookbook is very much like taking a "basics" class with a passionate cook. I suggest supplementing with the Martha Stewart Cooking School book because Martha's photos are excellent and really show techniques like trussing a chicken or filleting fish.
Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2008
I like all of Ina's cookbooks but especially this one and Barefoot in Paris. The recipes are very reliable, simple, and delicious ... which makes this a perfect gift for young people starting out on their own or newlyweds. Most of the dishes are quick and simple enough for week-night dinners, but delicious enough for week-end entertaining. Ina makes entertaining look both enticing and doable.
Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2004
This is the Contessa cookbook I turn to most often both for dinner parties and for family meals at home. The book itself (like all of Ina's) is beautiful to look at. But more important, the recipes are reliably delicious and the photos inspire the home cook to make food that it as beautiful to look at as it is delicious to eat. The blue cheese souffle is to die for.
Classic American Food Without Fuss:: Over 100 Favorite Recipes Made Easy
By Frances McCullough
Villard - 1997
A very nice collection of American classics. When they say "without fuss" they are not kidding. Each recipe is preceded by an introduction (often explaining the origin of the dish or identifying the source of the recipe). Most are followed by really useful prep tips, sources for ingredients, variations, and uses for leftovers.
Cold Soups
By Linda Ziedrich
Harvard Common Press - 1995
We (Soupereasy and I) are doing this review after trying five of the recipes in the book (cucumber soup, clam soup, corn soup, red pepper soup, and blackberry soup) each reviewed separately.
There are lots of good ideas. Overall, we think the basics are solid but with two caveats:
1) the soups we tried -- other than the blackberry and clam soups -- were bland and needed tweaking to a greater (the corn soup) or lesser (the cucumber soup) extent.
2) we found that we needed less of whatever milky/creamy element the recipe called for. This was especially true for the blackberry soup.
The main introduction and chapter introductions contain very helpful information.
So ... the book did a good job in terms of motivating us to get into the kitchen and play with cold soups, and we will now be checking the other cookbooks on our shelves for additional chilled soup recipes.
And we still have a few to try from this one, including an avocado with tomatillo salsa soup that screams summer on the back deck.
Cooking by Hand
By Paul Bertolli
Clarkson Potter - 2003
This is an inspirational cookbook to read even if you are not as obsessive about fresh pasta, or balsamic vinegar, as Bertolli is. It is an aesthetically beautiful book whose message is laid out in the very first pages in which Bertolli says that "cooking is trouble" -- that great flavor and good food requires focus and effort but that the end result is satisfying not only to the palate, but to the heart and spirit.
Cooking from the Heart: 100 Great American Chefs Share Recipes They Cherish
By Michael J. Rosen, Richard Russo (Foreword)
Broadway - 2003
The rating is based on reading the text as I haven't had an opportunity to cook from this book yet (will update review when I do). The recipes look great but it is the accompanying stories by the contributing chefs that charmed me into purchasing this book. That and the fact that the proceeds go to Share Our Strength.
Each recipe is introduced by the contributor, placing the recipe in the context of the chef's life and work. Most talk about the inspiration for the recipe, usually a story about food and family that is a window into how that chef thinks about his/her life's work. A few talk about how they developed the particular recipe they've contributed to the book. In the latter category is Craig Shelton and I can't wait to try his Soupe de Posson. A short professional biography of each chef is also included.
Cooking School Secrets For Real-World Cooks
By Linda Carucci
Chronicle Books - 2005
A good read and one that really will make you a better cook. Lots of great tips and insights into what to be thinking about and looking for as you shop and as you cook. Very glad I stumbled across this one in the bookstore.
The Country Cooking of France
By Anne Willan, France Ruffenach
Chronicle Books - 2007
This book is a beautiful and satisfying education in French country cooking.The text is enlightening, the photos are lovely, the recipes work beautifully. But the book doesn't "feel" educational -- it feels like you are spending a couple of hours in a French village.
Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen
By Gina DePalma, Mario Batali
W.W. Norton & Co. - 2007
I don't even love to bake and this cookbook is rapidly becoming one of my go-to resources in the kitchen. Wonderful recipes are just the beginning here -- there are also very useful sidebars on ingredients and wine pairings and the photography is lovely. A very well-written cookbook by a gifted pastry chef. A winner in every sense.
The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century
By Amanda Hesser
W. W. Norton & Company - 2010
This cookbook has now been in my kitchen for several months and I am extremely happy with it. Lots of variety in terms of ingredients and techniques, and it is particularly rewarding to have the opportunity to cook some of the great recipes of the more distant past. Ms. Hesser has done a great job both selecting and testing the recipes included.
Essential Pepin: More Than 700 All-Time Favorites from My Life in Food
By Jacques Pepin
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2011
This book has been in my home less than 24 hours and I love it already. It is truly the cookbook for all a cook's many moods.
Need something quick & delicious? Jacques is there for you.
Need to impress a guest or serve comfort food to a friend? Jacques is there for you.
Want a challenge? Jacques is there for you.
Want to learn a new technique or play with a new ingredient? Jacques is there for you.
On virtually every page of this cookbook, there is something I want to make.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
By Marcella Hazan
Knopf - 1992
Reading and cooking from this book constitutes an almost first-class education in Italian food. A first class education would be a year in an Italian kitchen. But this is close both in terms of the range of recipes provided and the information included in each recipe's introduction.
Frank Stitt's Southern Table: Recipes and Gracious Traditions from Highlands Bar and Grill
By Frank Stitt, Christopher Hirsheimer, Pat Conroy
Artisan - 2004
I received this cookbook today and am already in love. I agree with every word of the above review. Stiitt's comments about two of the women who work with him (p. 25) nearly brought me to tears.
The French Laundry Cookbook
By Thomas Keller, Deborah Jones
Artisan - 1999
This is a beautiful and inspiring book but not the kind of cooking most people would do at home on a daily basis. This is less a review than an suggestion that anyone interested in cooking from this book might want to pay a visit to Carol Blymire's blog, frenchlaundryathome.com. Blymire is a passionate and skilled home cook who ooked every recipe in this book over a period of many months. She recounts her successes, her failures, photographs the process and the results, and generally helps anyone interested in cooking from this book to anticipate the hurdles and rewards.
Blymire is currently cooking her way through Alinea and is documenting her experience in the blog alineaathome.com.
Oh -- I have cooked one recipe from this book to date, the gazpacho. It is a smooth (not just blended but strained as well) rather than chunky version. I loved the fresh flavor and it makes a wonderful summer starter served in expresso cups.
The Gourmet Cookbook: More than 1000 recipes
By Zanne Early Stewart, Ruth Reichl, John Willoughby
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2006
The more I cook from this book, the more impressed I am. Great range of recipes with very useful and informative sidebars. Aside from the infamous issue with the yellow print of the titles in the first printing, the fonts are well-chosen and easy on the eyes. Also, as a book lover, I am very happy that they didn't scrimp on the binding. It's a big book and it's not going to fall apart any time soon even if I use it every night.
A lot of thoughtful effort went into this book. As far as I can tell, each and every recipe starts with an introduction that may discuss the origin or creator of the dish, or hints on shopping for a particular ingredient, or serving/menu suggestions.
Great Good Food: Luscious Lower-Fat Cooking
By Julee Rosso
Three Rivers Press - 1993
I love my cookbooks -- they are like friends in my kitchen -- I read them looking for great recipes, new flavor combos, and useful techniques. The best ones also give me an introduction into the mind of a really creative cook, someone who -- in the pages of the book -- manages to become both teacher and inspiration. For me, anything by Paul Bertolli or Julia, the Zuni Cafe cookbook and Sunday Suppers at Lucques -- these are books and cooks who make me want to go into my kitchen every day of the week.
I also love the kind of cookbook that allows me to get dinner on the table in a hurry if I need to, but without dumbing-down my cooking or overly relying on processed or pre-packaged foods. Joy and the big yellow Gourmet cookbook are ideal in this regard.
This cookbook does not meet either criteria for me. I used it only a few times before removing it from my shelves -- the recipes I tried (this was in the early years of my cooking life) simply didn't work. Looking back from the vantage point of 15+ years of cooking I realize that there were mistakes in those recipes as written on the page. A more experienced cook than I was would have recognized this and inserted the missing step.
If memory serves, I threw this book away rather than pass it on to a friend or used book sale as I didn't want others to have the same disappointing experience. I probably missed a few really great recipes as a result, but in addition to wanting education and inspiration from a cookbook, I need it to be well-tested and reliable.
Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys
By David Tanis
Artisan - 2010
Somehow this has turned into the cookbook I reach for most often ... even if I sometimes have to run upstairs and grab it off my bedside table. The photos are beautiful, the recipes work, and the text makes you want to head into the kitchen. There is a real "joy of cooking" to be found in these pages.
The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen
By Nigel Slater
Fourth Estate Ltd - 2007
I completely agree with the first reviewer. This is a beautiful book to settle down with on the couch on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Slater's ability to convey the pleasures and rewards of nourishing ourselves well is unparalleled. Slater and Laurie Colwin are kindred spirits although Slater writes at greater length and his books are enriched with beautiful photography.
Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook
By Martha Stewart
Clarkson Potter - 2008
I would suggest this cookbook to anyone wanting to learn to cook. Its explanations, and the accompanying photos, are excellent. There is an enormous amount of good information, thoughtfully organized and presented, between the covers of this book. I am not sure any cooking author is more "user-friendly" than Martha Stewart (and her team).
Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes
By Martha Stewart, Wendy Kromer
Clarkson Potter - 2007
My five rating of this book is based on its beauty. I have not and probably will not ever bake from it. But it is a gorgeous book and for those interested in baking from it, the instructions and presentation of basic and advanced techniques are excellent.
Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber
By Christine Ferber
Michigan State Univ Pr - 2002
Christine Ferber is a famous name in France but her jams and jellies are not readily available in the US. So I was happy to learn that her cookbook was available in English translation.
The book is beautiful (wonderful photographs) and the flavor combinations (e.g. Chestnut and Pear, Fig and Gewurztraminer with Pine Nuts, Green Tomato and Pumpkin) are unusual and intriguing. For content and inspiration this book is a five -- just outstanding. To own this book is to want to cook from it early and often.
But the translation of the book seems problematic to me, rating only a 3. The translation focuses more on word-for-word accuracy rather than usability for the English-speaking cook. And anyone new to jelly-making, as I am, will likely need to supplement the book's instructions with instructions from either the Ball or USDA website.
So I'll split the difference and rate the book a four.
Mexican Everyday (Recipes Featured on Season 4 of the PBS-TV series "Mexico One Plate at a Time")
By Rick Bayless, Christopher Hirsheimer, Deann Bayless
W. W. Norton - 2005
In general, I've rarely tried cooking Mexican food at home, as my results seldom seemed to justify the time spent. Until this cookbook. Bayless offers recipes that are uncomplicated, fresh, healthy, and full of flavor. His introduction to the book is a great read and offers insights into his evolving attitudes about making Mexican food easier to prepare and healthier to consume. The section of the at-home Mexican pantry is an excellent resource for the home cook. And Chapter 4 is just great -- includes a number of recipes for rubs, marinades, and salsas that will help you have a Mexican grill at home. This chapter also includes a grilling guide that is an excellent resource.
As an added bonus, each recipe is followed by possible variations (which Bayless calls riffs) which probably double -- and possibly even triple -- the number of recipes contained in the book.
It's nice to have such a personal cookbook by such a passionate cook on my shelves. Bayless's knowledge and the pleasure he takes in cooking are clearly apparent in the pages of this book.
Molto Gusto: Easy Italian Cooking
By Mario Batali
Ecco - 2010
The more I turn to this book, the better I like it. Great photos, lots of excellent information about Italian ingredients, and -- best of all -- recipes that work. And that can generally be on the table in under an hour.
Like a gourmet Thirty-minute Meals cookbook. You get a lot of bang for the cookbook buck with this one.
The New Basics Cookbook
By Julee Rosso, Sheila Lukins
Workman Publishing Company - 1989
I first discovered this cookbook in college when one of my housemates suggested we take the week-end and jointly make Sheila's cassoulet (p. 533). It was an ambitious and expensive undertaking for neophyte cooks and financially-challenged grad students, but we had a blast -- and an amazing meal on Sunday night ... and Monday and Tuesday nights. And I learned just what a pleasure it can be to cook with others -- and then share the results.
After I married, this was the first -- and for a long time only -- cookbook I used when we had guests. I took it along on road trips just to read -- many many useful charts and buying guides for ingredients. After two decades, this remains one of my go-to cookbooks with recipes that really hold up...although I had not realized until this holiday season how long it had been since I'd made something from it.
The New Basics section at the rear of the book (p. 766-800) is really helpful. And the book is still a pleasure to read. Wonderful bibliography that will send you off in new directions if you are in the mood for some culinary adventures.
Two additional features make this cookbook a delight - the pen and ink illustrations (by the multi-talented Ms. Lukins) and the many food-related quotes that pepper the pages.
I do have one unfinished goal when it comes to this book. I have yet to make what is probably the most famous recipe in the book, the Chicken Marbella. But I plan to do so soon and when I do I will lift a glass to the late, great Sheila Lukins.
The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accessories
By David Lebovitz
Ten Speed Press,U.S. - 2007
This is a beautiful book that does what it should do -- it makes you want to make ice cream and then gives you a great result when you do. Love how the paperback binding is flexible enough that the book stays open at the page you are working from but strong enough to avoid pages coming loose.
As cookbooks go, this is one of the most reliable I've ever used and every time I eat something I've made from it, I'm glad it's in my library.
A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes
By David Tanis, Alice Waters
Artisan - 2008
This is a preliminary review as I have only recently gotten this cookbook and have not yet had a chance to cook from it. But -- unlike many chef cookbooks (Tanis is currently head chef at Chez Panisse) -- this cookbook is full of dishes that seem eminently doable for the home cook who has access to excellent ingredients. This will be the first book I cook from in 2010.
It is a very personal cookbook and the experiences and idiosyncrasies of this very talented chef are right there on the page. I admire the design of the book (including the print font -- although I wouldn't have minded if they had increased the font size a bit). The photos are beautiful and help to convey Tanis's unfussy approach to the creation of great dishes -- you can almost smell and taste the dishes as you read the recipes and look at the accompanying photos.
Provence: the Beautiful Cookbook
By Richard Olney
Perennial - 1999
This is not the most used cookbook in my arsenal but it is one that I like to pull out on a winter's night in front of the fire and just look at the pictures and read the text. It makes for a small summer vacation on a dreary February night.
A Return to Cooking
By Eric Ripert, Michael Ruhlman
Artisan - 2009
This is a really interesting cookbook to read, but more for the insights it offers into the mind and palate of a great chef. Eric Ripert strongly believes in finding his inspiration in the resources around him (as you can see in his new series for PBS, Avec Eric, which I highly recommend -- he is a charming guy with a passion for cooking and a real zest for life that is infectious). This book shows him at work in Puerto Rico, Napa, Vermont and Sag Harbor. I may not make a lot of these recipes but I am enjoying making the journey to these places along with Eric. The text is accompanied by wonderful paintings (by an artist friend of Ripert's) and photographs.
Smitten Kitchen
October 31st, 2010Love this website -- beautifully written and great photos. But neither would matter much if Deb didn't also have an uncanny gift for picking recipes people want to make and eat -- even if they didn't know that before they clicked on her site. On more than one occasion, I've checked in to see what she is doing and then grabbed the keys and headed to the grocery store to get what I need to make the recipe that day.
Would love a "Smitten Kitchen" challenge.
The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show
By Lynne Rossetto Kasper, Sally Swift
Clarkson Potter - 2008
4/4/11 Edited to add that I agree with sturlington's review about the inconsistency of this cookbook. There are some very nice recipes in this book and some that are just meh. Which is one of the reasons why a site like cookbooker is so helpful.
I think this is a beautiful book. But I know the aesthetics of the book are a matter of taste -- some of my cooking friends find the varying font sizes off-putting. The photography is very enticing ... the photos do what they are supposed to do -- make you want to make the dish.
But the cookbook also makes it harder to do that because of the tightness of the binding -- You really need a heavy duty cookbook stand (one with the weighted chains than rest on the open pages) in order to keep the book open to the page you are cooking from. But the book itself is an off-standard size making it just a smidgen too small for a standard cookbook stand to be effective. You could crack the binding to get it to lie flat -- but who wants to do that to such a beautiful book? So many cookbooks get the binding right (Joy, Gourmet, etc.); I wish the authors of this book had followed suit.
If you like this cookbook, you will probably enjoy the authors' How To Eat Supper podcasts available for free at iTunes.
The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food
By Judith Jones
Anchor - 2008
Kind of disappointing -- for a woman who must have lived a very interesting life and known many inventive and engaging chefs, not much of that life actually comes to life on the page. There are anecdotes about Julia and the Hazans and others -- most of which I heard or read before.
A number of recipes are included in the book (all clustered in a section at the end rather than scattered through the book -- but, sad to say, few tempted me to go to the kitchen.
Terrines and Verrines
By Frank Pontais
Food Creation - 2008
I think an experienced cook could have some fun with this book, but even experienced cooks would need to approach these recipes pretty cautiously. More than most cookbooks, I'd recommend reading the recipes pretty carefully in advance and deciding if the steps/process/techniques used seem likely to give a good result. On the other hand, I think a lot of the recipes here might inspire some really creative dishes.
What to Drink with What You Eat: The Definitive Guide to Pairing Food with Wine, Beer, Spirits, Coffee, Tea - Even Water - Based on Expert Advice from America's Best Sommeliers
By Andrew Dornenburg, Karen Page, Michael Sofronski
Bulfinch - 2006
An incredibly useful book, well-organized for use by the home chef and sommelier.
What's a Cook to Do?: An Illustrated Guide to 484 Essential Tips, Techniques, and Tricks
By James Peterson
Artisan - 2007
This book has apparently been available since 2007 but I had never encountered it until today. In one afternoon it has become one of my favorite kitchen resources. A lot of of it is basic information that I stumbled on after some rookie mistakes -- but I wish I'd had this book to prevent some of those rookie (and sometime expensive) mistakes. It includes tips on buying various ingredients, explains and illustrates cooking techniques, and explains the why behind some standard cooking processes. All without dumbing down the information. I like this book a lot.
The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant
By Judy Rodgers, Gerald Asher
W.W. Norton & Co. - 2002
This is a visually beautiful book -- glorious really. It celebrates not only the pleasures of the table but also the pleasure involved in creating those great meals. The introduction could motivate just about anyone to want to be a better, more thoughtful cook ... and the recipes give the results that show that the effort to do so pays off on the plate. I love this cookbook.